So the bridesmaids of the parable decked the bride in all her finery, and waited until the bridegroom came with his friends to fetch her to his house where later on the climax of the day was to be reached in the marriage supper which was the occasion of the actual marriage itself.  So the joyful procession set out, the bridesmaids escorting the veiled bride, the groom and his companions leading the way to the accompaniment of singing and dancing by the attendant throng.

Having thus seen her safely to her future home, the bridegroom went with his friends to spend the intervening time at the house of a relative until it was time to return for the marriage supper.  It is at this point, when the bridesmaids and the bride are waiting for him, that the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids begins.  For it was their privilege, as soon as the torches which heralded his return were sighted, to go out with lighted lamps to meet him and lead him, in merry procession, to the marriage supper.